Experiential meaning of a decent quality of work life for nurse managers in a university hospital

Abstract

Objective: Successive reorganizations of healthcare system around the globe have placed enormous pressure on the work of nurse managers (NMs) and this has eroded their quality of work life (QWL). However, little is known about the meaning of NMs' QWL. Aim: Inspired by Watson's Human Caring Science perspective, this study aimed to describe and understand the meaning of QWL among NMs working in a affiliated-university hospital. Methods: A descriptive phenomenological method the Relational Caring Inquiry (RCI) was conducted to describe and understand the experiential meaning of QWL. This qualitative method was used to collect and analyze data from two semi-structured interviews with 14 NMs in an affiliated-university hospital in Quebec, Canada. Results: The results have identified the following five Eidos-themes to describe and understand the experiential meaning of QWL: (1) actualizing leadership and political skills to improve the quality of nursing care; (2) contextual elements conducive to humanization of the organization; (3) organizational support promoting socioprofessional and personal fulfillment; (4) learning culture within the organization to encourage the development of nursing management skills; and (5) personalized support addressing the specific needs of new NMs. For NMs, the essence of the QWL experience is defined as a socioprofessional emancipation of NMs in their clinical-administrative practice in humanist organizations. Conclusions: Taking an organizational humanization perspective, the results reveal sustainable and practical potential strategies aimed at optimizing QWL implementation programs.

Factors that influence the quality of worklife of first-line nurse managers in a French Canadian Healthcare system

“…This sort of accompaniment takes the form primarily of active participation in management succession programmes, the presence of role models, and implementation of a welcome and orientation day for new FLNMs. [29] In line with points raised in other works reviewed on the subject, the results of the present study suggest that healthcare organizations must place greater importance on providing accompaniment that meets the needs of novice FLNMs. Goodyear and Goodyear [30] recognized that mentoring the next generation of FLNMs necessitated efforts structured by orientation activities and role models in order for novices to properly assume the different facets of a role that implies managing human, material, financial, and information resources.…”

“…These authors added that orientation activities (mentoring and coaching) were winning conditions in planning the management labor force of tomorrow to attract and retain the next generation of nurses in the field of management. [29] 4.2 Factors unfavorable to QWL UF1. Organizational dehumanization…”

Relationships influencing caring in first‐line nursing leadership: A visual hermeneutic study

“…This strengthened understanding of contradictory claims can be difficult to meet [9, 36], where leaders’ attention and focus was primarily directed towards administration, finances and outer structures [16, 33] with a risk of losing the patient in leadership [2, 7‐9, 18, 38]. Superiors were described as essential people for participants’ abilities to meet these new requirements [41].…”

“…Professional leadership with accessible and approachable leaders promotes patient safety [24]. Actively influencing administrative decisions and professional development can contribute to humanising an organisation, reflect caring values, enhance FLNMs' quality of work life [41], make FLNMs' positions more attractive and reduce turnover. Supportive superiors who confirm FLNMs are valuable can give them confidence in leadership, where they do not need to be afraid of reprisals if they make mistakes.…”

“…Thus, empowering FLNMs is crucial for enabling nursing teams to deliver high-quality care, as caring administration is reminding all stakeholders of patients' suffering [2,5,35,39,40]. Supportive relationships with superiors influence job satisfaction [41], affect turnover intent among FLNMs [8,42] and can make the FLNM position more attractive [36]. To the best of our knowledge, research is scarce on the relationships that influence caring in nursing leadership from FLNMs' perspectives; therefore, this topic requires attention.…”